


Rainfall

by FaultyParagon



Series: Laws of Attraction-Verse Fics [19]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Nora-centric, Renora, Romance, Team JNRR - Freeform, Volume 4 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-18 21:33:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20198503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaultyParagon/pseuds/FaultyParagon
Summary: Nora always knows when Ren needs something, and she's more than happy to make him feel safe again. They've been through too much together. And Ren? Ren's always grateful to have Nora by his side.You do NOT need to have read 'Laws of Attraction' in order to read this fic.





	Rainfall

**Author's Note:**

> This is set during their journey to Haven in S4. This was adapted from a very, very old piece I wrote (nearly a decade ago, holy moly) that I found earlier on my old hard drive. I thought it was fitting for our two wholesome beans.

rainfall

_Something's wrong. _

The sound of rain, gently washing down from the heavens in soft sheets against the window's glass, is what stirred the girl's senses. Amidst the pitter-patter of raindrops streaking down the windowpane, internal warning alarms started to ring through the fogginess of Nora's formerly peaceful dreams. It was intense, screaming out, disrupting the silence that had been hanging within the small bedroom so comfortably before. _Dang it. What time is it?_

Opening her bleary eyes, the orange-haired girl could barely make out the mirror on the wall, or the small table in the right corner of the room, despite the clock showing that it should have been daylight already hours before. _Oh gosh. We slept in, huh? Oops._ Turning her head slowly to the left, she sighed- the window displayed a bleak, cloudy day, hardly a ray of light penetrating the dark wash of clouds and the torrential rainfalls cascading below.

She paused, squinting as she peered at the window. No lightning struck, much to her chagrin. _A summer storm, and we can't even storm-dive either? What's the point? _She pouted, running her hands through her bedhead, irritated. Why did she even wake up?

Suddenly, she heard a groan- the same muffled, frantic noise which had caused her to stir to begin with.

She sat upright, carefully balancing her weight upon propped up elbows as she glanced at the sleeping figure to her right. She felt her brows furrow, weary warmth and concern welling up inside. The young man's face was barely visible, shrouded deep within the confines of his blankets, but she could see enough to make her concerned- his eyebrows were furrowed, sweat beaded upon his brow, voice emitting unintelligible murmurs of pain so soft, she could scarcely hear it. His body flashed pink, his Aura covering him, masking his negativity from potential Grimm without his knowledge.

_Oh, Ren._

The rainstorm raged on, and she yawned despite herself. Rather than going back to sleep, though, she stretched, lightly slapping her cheeks to wake herself up. It was days like this when she worried the most for Ren's health. She needed to be there for him.

She peeked over to the other side of the room, where Ruby and Jaune were still sleeping in their own beds. Thankfully, the two of them were both heavy sleepers, and the room which the townsfolk had provided them after clearing a patch of Grimm was spacious enough that she didn't need to stealthily walk around them- they'd sleep through it all.

With a sigh, she flipped her bangs out of her eyes before slipping out of bed, trying her best to not let the squeak of the mattress disturb the sleeping boy on her right. Pulling on a sweater draped over a nearby chair, she tiptoed out of their room and headed downstairs into the communal kitchen, setting some water to boil. Tea would calm Ren down once he woke up.

The empty silence made her gnaw her bottom lip in frustration. His dreams had been far more intense as of late. It had been years since they had escaped the clutches of their captors- and, with the sheer intensity of what they had gone through in Vale and Beacon, that time period felt even longer, separating them from their childhood selves even further. And yet, the visions of hatred and fear and bloodshed still haunted Ren.

She had noticed it was especially bad when the rain fell. The nightmares, the agonizing _pain,_ became even worse during rainy days. She didn't know what memory he was recalling, but she knew there were only two places such recurring nightmares could stem from.

But one of the sources was dead, and they'd avoid the other as much as possible, so why had his fears intensified?

She didn't want to bring it up. He had lost far more than she, the night they met. Being on Anima, so close to Kuroyuri… she couldn't imagine what that was doing to him. So, she could do nothing for him but wait for the nightmares to stop. Would that day ever come?

It sent a flash a pain through her, slicing her from the inside out- but she had to admit it. She, Nora Valkyrie, the cheeriest of all… seeing Ren like this, even she was beginning to lose hope that his nightmares would cease before they left Mistral behind again.

Her shoulders drooped with exhaustion and frustration, but she forced herself to perk up anyways. The water was boiled, the leaves steeped. With the freshly-made cup of tea steaming within her hand, she trudged back to the bedroom. Walking around Ren's bed, she went to his side, where he was continuing to toss and turn restlessly, dream-whispers beginning to turn into pained cries as he escaped from something she dared not to even imagine.

His body still glowed with his Aura, his body's internal defense mechanisms hiding his fear away still. Nora sighed, grabbing his shoulder lightly. She needed to wake him up before the nightmares ate up all of his Semblance. It was exhausting for him, especially since they were on the road.

He slowly stirred, eyes blinking open at last. She grinned, placing the mug upon the nightstand and sitting on the edge of his bed. "Made you tea," she whispered.

He sat up, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. They were puffy, swollen. _I'll get him some ice later, _she thought absentmindedly, taking note of it. He didn't like showing Jaune and Ruby that he wasn't having the best time during this trip. They weren't ready to see Ren crumble, too. _And it's my job to make sure that doesn't happen!_

"…Go to bed, Nora," he croaked, voice jagged and hoarse with sleep and silent screams. She smiled wistfully, waiting for him to drink the tea. When he realized she wouldn't budge until he complied, he sighed, taking the cup in hand and sipping carefully.

"You okay?" she whispered.

He ran his hand back through his hair. Nora saw how much his fingers shook. She didn't bring it up, though.

"I'm fine. What time…?" His eyes widened, alarmed, when he took in the actual hour on the clock.

She held a finger up to her lips, then pointed at the other two sleeping in their own beds across the room. "Let's go easy today?" she offered.

Ren frowned, but nodded at last. They had been pushing through too hard lately. The break would do them good.

_It'll do _you _some good, _she thought wearily. _Ren, please don't do this to yourself. Sleep. Take a break. I love you, you know?_

But she wouldn't say any of it to him- not yet. He wasn't ready for it.

"Drink your tea, then go back to sleep," she ordered authoritatively, although the grin on her face didn't fade.

He rolled his eyes, but with her words, his posture visibly relaxed. He took another sip of his tea and sighed, but he seemed much more contented, the fear and hurt that had wound him up so tightly in his nightmares finally releasing him again. He'd be okay.

Satisfied, Nora reached up and tapped him lightly on the nose. "Boop," she whispered, smiling sweetly at him.

And Ren smiled back, and her own worries slipped away. Nora sat on the edge of his bed until he had finished his tea, and then, she pulled out her headphones, found a gentle set of songs on her Scroll, and crawled back into her own bed.

Before she closed her eyes, however, she saw Ren settling into his bed once again- but his eyes were on her. She cocked her head, lifting up one headphone, awaiting his words.

"…Thanks, Nora," he breathed.

"Always, Ren," she sang back. She meant it. Just as he was always there to soothe her worries, she'd be there to protect him, too. Always.

_ **-fin-** _

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment, let me know what you think!


End file.
